Posted by
Steve Hamm in
Intel’s purchase yesterday of security software maker McAfee, detailed in this News.com story, signals a shift in the tech industry’s view of how to better secure computers, networks, and software programs: Security has to be built in, rather than added on later. It’s the concept of “secure by design.”
At IBM, the secure-by-design concept extends to encompass our Smarter Planet agenda. These days, its not enough to secure the traditional computing infrastructure. You’ve got to protect all of the devices and networks that are now being used to monitor, manage, and analyze everything from smart electrical grids to health care systems. “All of the physical assets of the world are becoming digitized, instrumented, interconnected and intelligent,” says Kristin Lovejoy, head of IBM security strategy. “But the sad reality is that as people develop and design these new technologies they’re not thinking enough about the issue of security. These devices are so critical that if they’re unavailable or if they’re tampered with, it could have a significant negative impact on an individual or a large population.”
When security is an afterthought, it tends to be expensive and not that effective. Plus, organizations typically find out about a vulnerability after it has already been exploited by malicious software programs.
We believe that only by designing products to be secure can organizations gain the protection they need at a reasonable price. With that principle in mind, IBM has established what we call a secure engineering framework. It’s a set of specifications that we are beginning to use in all of our design processes, for hardware and software alike.
Now that the world’s critical infrastructure is being wired and networked, security is becoming more important than ever before. Business-as-usual in the tech industry isn’t good enough any more.
Posted by
jamesmathewson in
Editor’s note: The following is a guest post by Wayne Balta, vice president, environmental affairs and product safety at IBM. It emphasizes that sustainability is not a new concept for IBM, nor is it a short-term commitment. Sustainability is woven into the fabric of IBM’s business.
IBM just issued its 20th environmental report–an annual tradition that began in 1990, long before most companies climbed on the “green” bandwagon or became transparent about their environmental activities. In addition to climate change and energy efficiency, IBM reports on pollution prevention, waste management, material selection and water stewardship to capture the full scope of its environmental impact.
In 2009, IBM’s energy conservation projects across the company delivered savings equal to 5.4 percent of our total energy use (exceeding our goal of 3.5%). These conservation projects also saved almost $27 million in energy expense.
From the way IBM runs its business, to the products and solutions we sell, to the way we manage our supplier relationships, IBM uses its expertise, global reach, innovation and technology in our commitment to protect the environment. Sustainability is systemic to IBM’s business along with technology and services that promote the company’s vision for a smarter planet.
The company looks to design energy-efficient offerings to help provide clients with products that protect the environment. Consider data centers. Toyota Motor’s 20, 000 square foot data in California uses a high-tech system of sensors developed by IBM to detect wasted energy on the manufacturing floor. The sensors deliver a color-coded 3D view of where heat is being produced. This same system helped IBM cut its 2009 energy consumption and has saved nearly 350,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions for clients.
IBM is partnering with companies around the world on thermal management, virtualization, consolidation, software, and even construction to improve data center energy efficiency. And the Green500 just put out its 2010 list of the most energy efficient supercomputers; IBM dominates the list with 17 of the top 20.
Our sustainability also stretches to the realm of patents. The Eco-Patent Commons creates a free exchange of intellectual property to solve environmental challenges. Since the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and IBM launched the Eco-Patent Commons in 2008, 12 companies have joined the effort, contributing more than 100 patents to protect the environment, and we strongly encourage other companies to contribute.
For some companies, corporate responsibility is merely an adjunct; a set of activities disconnected from the core business. At IBM, the company’s strategic business priorities are tightly aligned with our social responsibility efforts. This shared ambition is to enable the systems that make life on this planet more efficient, accessible and sustainable.
Wayne Balta is vice president, environmental affairs and product safety, IBM
Posted by
Steve Hamm in
Last July 15, John E. Kelly III, director of IBM Research, conducted a daylong meeting of directors and department heads at lab headquarters in Yorktown Heights, New York. At one point, a presenter showed a map of the globe with dots over most of it indicating the locations of research collaboration projects. One glaring exception was Latin America. Kelly sat near the front of the room with his legs crossed and his chin resting on his hand. “Look, guys. South America. Nothing yet,” he said, gesturing at the map. “You’ve got to get started.”
Well, get started they did. Today, IBM announced its newest laboratory location, in Brazil–our ninth global research center. This is a rare occurrence. The last new lab was established 12 years ago, in India. (Other research facilities are in the United States, Switzerland, Israel, China, and Japan.) “A research lab is something special,” says Robert Morris, a vice-president at IBM Research. “We have about 400,000 employees worldwide, of which about 3000 are in research. This is the tip of the arrow.”
Kelly and his colleagues chose Brazil because of its large and high-caliber talent pool, its excellent universities, and the size and growth rate of the IT market. Brazil’s technology priorities also align closely with our Smarter Planet agenda. The lab will focus initially on three areas of research 1) Improving natural resource discovery, exploration, and logistics; 2) Developing smarter devices for use in sensor networks; and 3) Producing technologies for managing large-scale events–including huge gatherings of people such as the World Cup and Olympic Games, which Brazil will host in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Brazil’s central government is co-investing along with IBM.
The natural resource project is particularly intriguing–especially at a time when the world is watching closely the response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “We’ll need massive amounts of sophisticated logistics and simulation technologies to help prevent the accidents of the future,” Morris said.
The new lab has people working in existing IBM offices in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro while we work with governments to choose a permanent location. Eventually we plan to have a staff of more than 100.
Posted by
Adam Christensen in
Click on the image above to launch a video player of IBM CEO Sam Palmisano’s full presentation at the Smarter Cities Summit in Shanghai.
Rather than belabor the recap of the speech, I’ll let you watch and draw your own conclusions. The total video is 25 minutes.
If you missed the prior recaps see the previous few posts on other insights from today’s sessions, and be sure to watch here more tomorrow for many more. You can follow the conversations live on Twitter as well. Let us know your thoughts by adding a comment below.
Posted by
Karl Roche in
How often have you been told to ’stop doing that’ because x,y and z is bad for you? Plenty, if you’re anything like me.
We get these sorts of messages everyday with the earliest examples usually from our parents and schools. It’s a common theme throughout life that usually continues after school into work. Quite honestly, people stop listening, especially when the reason for not doing something isn’t adequately conveyed.
If we take the environment, which probably contains the largest number of groups telling people to stop doing this, that or the other, people begin to push back. People don’t like being told what not to do. Even reasonable people think that being told not to drive but use public transport when it will take them longer and will cost them more is just crazy – they want the alternative to be better.
So lets flip it. Lets ’start’ something. Today in London, IBM announced that it will be the exclusive partner for a nine day summit in September 2010 called surprisingly, START. It aims to explore what business can do for sustainability and what sustainability can do for business. In many ways it is just a start. Even though it is an event, START is also a national (UK) initiative of the The Prince’s Charities Foundation will continue way past September and a street in London coming to communities across the UK.
Over nine days, IBM summit at START will bring together a brains trust of thought leaders to come up with ideas that organisations can sign up to because it makes sense for them and their business – not just the environment. All the ideas, findings and debates will be published online. Each day will focus on a different topic, such as new skills, the future of cities, energy and transport. You can see that in all cases that no single organisation or government is responsible for everything within these topics, it requires a number of bodies to come together and work together. So the summit will try to build a community of collaboration, discuss ways we can all work together to make stuff really happen, to make the alternative better than what we have now.
At the launch in London today, Steven Leonard, Chief Exec for IBM UK said, “the challenge [is] bringing all the necessary constituents together to develop and deliver more complex solutions to make the world – literally work smarter.”
Collaboration between organisations, public and private, is essential to make this initiative work. I for one am excited about the opportunities that this could bring up, such as the need to develop new skills myself and the push it will give to widen the use of social tools within business. Is it going to be easy? No. Will it all happen in 9 days? I very much doubt it, but there needs to be a point where we say, things have to change and we mark the beginning with this event.
But before the event we have a few weeks, time in which partners and invited companies will be starting to collaborate using our collaboration tools. So that the final agenda for each day will be built on the basis of the combined expertise. Essential to begin as you intend to go on.
Caroline Taylor, VP leading Project Start in IBM raised an essential point at today’s launch about the next generation: “If sustainability is about securing the future, young people are that future, and they will be vital in ensuring we define genuinely 21st century and forward thinking solutions.” Day 4 and 5 are devoted to new skills and starting young.
It’s not all work, work, work…there will also be a 12 day public festival that apart from being great fun will also give clear, simple and positive ideas on how people can start doing things that will help them lead a sustainable future. There will be plenty of big names in attendance, including two of my favourite comedians, secret gigs, mystery artists and a host of other good stuff.
Where’s this all happening? IBM summit at START will be hosted in Lancaster House, The Mall, London, September 8th – 16th. with the START garden party happening right next door in Green Park. Hopefully we will also be able to broadcast large parts of the business event over Livestream, no doubt we will have more updates here.
Prince of Wales (centre) at the launch of the "IBM Summit at Start" which will be held over 9 day in September 2010
The Start founding partners include: IBM, B&Q, Virgin Money, M&S, Asda, EDF Energy, Addison Lee, BT Group plc and Waitrose. Full list of supporting organisations on the web site.
Read more about IBM Summit at Start.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=5026fee1-7e6d-4160-b1f1-b5dd9b304bff)
Posted by
Adam Christensen in
In less than a week, political and business leaders, experts and academics will descend on Shanghai for the next global Smarter Cities summit. As we’ve done in Berlin, and in New York City, our goal is to convene leaders representing all the systems in a city to surface the challenges and opportunities for charting the next phase of the world’s urban centers.
As the world’s largest city in one of the largest and fastest growing economies, Shanghai provides the perfect backdrop to explore the converging realities of massive urbanization and a scarcity of resources. It’s no coincidence that the summit is at the head end of the six-month long long Shanghai Expo. With the theme-appropriate “Better City, Better Life” urban sustainability will be a recurring theme throughout the Expo.
In support of the Smarter Cities summit, we’ll feature a number of city-centric posts, and during the event itself, June 2 and 3, we’ll share on the blog and on Twitter as much of the major insights stemming from the event as we can about the major themes of the conference: transportation, education, public safety, health care, water management and energy. Stay tuned, as they say.
In the meantime, spend some time exploring the interactive SmarterCity experience for a deeper IBM perspective on the city as a system of systems. Just click on the graphic below.
(for a non Flash version, go here).
Smart Metering is creating buzz in the marketplace, and for good reason. Consumer visibility into energy consumption — and having the means to take a more active role in day to day consumption – means less energy wasted and more money saved. But to get that level of visibility, companies and consumers need to make sense of massive amounts of data. Our project to bring smart metering to homes across Britain with IBM is a good example of how beginning with the home, our communities and cities can be more energy conscious and work to reverse the effects of climate change.
Background here: We received funding in the UK for a 30-month research project that will allow stakeholders from local authorities, private businesses and universities to study energy monitoring and its effect on human behavior. The goal was to enable real-time analysis of electricity usage for households, or even for individual appliances, to help people make better decisions about energy efficiency in the home and minimize their environmental impact.
So we installed small, low-cost energy monitoring devices at groups of homes in five European cities: Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester in the UK, and Plovdiv and Ivanovo in Bulgaria. These are really ‘living labs’ that give researchers access to real-world energy usage data, and where they can study behavior and attitudes towards energy management.
The key is getting homeowners access to all this information online in a simple format. Our dashboard does just that. It displays their electricity usage and performs analytics, such as calculating costs against the users’ electricity tariff, or comparing their usage to the average for their group. Our project proves that when people can see and understand the numbers, they can make more informed decisions about energy management and change their behavior – like reducing electricity bills and saving the environment, so to speak.
What does this mean for the larger UK population? In the first proof-of-concept we simulated three million homes sending readings once a minute and we were able to capture nearly 50,000 readings per second using only a quad-core, dual-processor Intel server. In the second, we moved to a slightly larger server and found we could deliver analytics response times of between one and three seconds for a similar load. Tech talk here, but the point is that energy monitoring for millions of homes or more can now be a practical proposition.
Clive Eisen, Chief Technology Officer at Hildebrand, is directly responsible for the operations and software development staff tasked with managing the roll-out of Hildebrand products and services.
.
.
Editor’s note. For some more of IBM’s perspective on the project, following is a video of Guido Bartels, IBM’s general manager for Energy & Utilities.
Posted by
vineeta durani in
In the past 12 months alone, New York City office workers have spent the equivalent of 22.5 YEARS either waiting for an elevator or stuck in one, according to a new IBM survey. Why? Because office buildings have failed to keep pace with the revolution in automation that pervades modern life.
Architects have become experts at designing for green. They are envisioning more environmentally sustainable designs on how buildings should be situated, what materials should be used, how to meet LEED specifications, etc. But the reality is, while they use data and modeling to design buildings that will perform efficiently, they never really know in the end how things will turn out. Because its not just up to them.
Consider the players when it comes to building a building:
- There are the architects, as stated.
- Then there are the engineering design & construction firms who take the design from the architect and build it. They can conceivably make a lot of changes to the design of a building along the way. Think: “Hey Joe, the wall doesn’t fit!” “Just move it till it fits!” (By the way these changes aren’t always documented.)
- There are the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) contractors. They manage the cabling and plumbing of the building. Oh and by the way, they may have to make some changes along the way too. (And did I mention they use different types of design tools than the architects?)
- There are the engineering subsystem companies that manage different parts of the building, like the HVAC systems, the elevators, etc.
- The metering and sensing companies handle meters outside of the building that monitor utilities, and meters inside the building to check out the temperature, CO2 emissions, pH of the water, etc.
- Then of course there integrated building management system companies that gather a lot of data from the building.
- And the owner operators…
But here’s the deal: These guys are all experts in their field, and they work well together in theory. But they all are making changes along the way that may not be captured and shared. By the time a building gets built, the owner operator may not have the real view of the building design because its changed so much from the original architects’ view. And think about the MEP contractors who come back three to six months after the buildings been built, to see how it’s performing. They may realize the building is using 20 percent more energy than originally planned, but they missed the boat over the last few months because they weren’t keeping track of changes along the way and maintaining building equipment accordingly.
The fact of the matter is buildings can and should be retrofitted. But a real view of the how the building is designed and operating is needed to make better sense of the changes that need to be made. Just think if you were monitoring your weight regularly, you’d know if you gained 5 lbs that its time to start exercising, instead of waiting till you gain 30 to figure it out. Same goes for buildings: if we can help the experts that design and build, view integrated energy management and maintenance information in real-time, we all could spend a little less time in elevators.
What about Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas?
- Los Angeles: 16% of LA respondents say they have been stuck in an elevator in their office building in the last 12 months, with 16% of that group stuck for 20 minutes or more (versus the national average of 9%).
- Atlanta: 14% of those who work in buildings with elevators have been stuck in an elevator in the last 12 months, spending the equivalent of 6.2 YEARS either waiting for an elevator or stuck in one.
- Dallas: In the past 12 months, Dallas/Fort Worth office workers have spent the equivalent of 7.9 YEARS either waiting for an elevator or stuck in one. 13% of Dallas/Fort Worth office workers who work in elevator buildings say they’ve been stuck in an elevator in the last 12 months. Of those, 19% say they were stuck longer than 20 minutes, the high for the survey. 36% were stuck for longer than 10 minutes, also the high for the survey.
To see what’s happening with buildings in your city, check out the IBM Smarter Buildings Survey for more info on how cities stack up…
Survey Methodology: IBM conducted an online survey of 6,486 adults working full- or part-time in office buildings in 16 major US cities from March 30 – April 12, 2010. The survey was conducted to gauge how “intelligent,” automated and Green office buildings are in the country. The survey looks at a number of key factors, including building security, office temperature, use of alternative energy sources and other environmental and conservation issues, and elevator reliability. The survey had a city by city margin of error of 5%.
Posted by
Karl Roche in
Is your city looking a bit rough around the edges? Do you wonder what it will be like in 20 years time? Does it even feel like your city?
After moving to London 17 years ago it took me a while to feel like this was home and that I had a right to complain or think that things could be done better – possibly because I lived in a new borough every year. I suppose only now that one of my kids attends a school and we have been in the London Borough of Sutton for 7 years that I truly feel like I have a stake in this city. I’m really starting to think about the decisions that are being made around planning and developing of local provisions such as getting my kids into a good school, the availability healthcare (the hospital both my kids were born at has been under threat of closer) and if we have an ample local supply of power and water and are we protected against floods? Not to mention how will we all get around the cities we live in.
As more and more of us live in urban settings, these cities are going to have to get better, get smarter and serve inhabitants better just to remain as viable places to live and work. Some cities will do this better than others which will mean a shift of populations to those that get it right, away from those that don’t. Employers and especially talented individuals will move to places that serve them better. It’s not just about growth, but about cities working better. The competition between cities is more alive now than ever, and it will change faster than ever before.
I can see the problems in my own city of London, but also the opportunities. We have a huge number of talented and creative people in the UK. I hope for my kids we can improve things and set the bar high.
City of Dreams
These 6 short films highlight some of the challenges UK cities face in some of those areas that will decide whether we stay or go, including transport, energy, education and healthcare. With interviews from senior leaders in the public and private sector, alongside IBM technology and business specialists, each gives their insights into the opportunities that exist to transform the way our cities function.
More of these videos plus a 3D version of City of Dreams at ibm.com/uk/cities
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=3cc823aa-b161-4ea9-9e44-d2b9d54ad943)
I recently sat down with Wayne Balta, IBM’s VP of corporate environmental affairs and product safety, to talk about a new program to advance sustainability across the company’s huge network of almost 30,000 suppliers in 90 countries. We talked about how a company can help the environment beyond the walls of its own business:
Q: Ten years, ago, we never could have predicted the current state of global sustainability efforts. What are some trends you’re seeing today?
Balta: We’re seeing more activity in areas where business interests intersect with the environment and sustainability. More companies are realizing that what is good for the environment is good for business, especially when it makes a company more efficient and effective. A case in point: if you produce a product — anything from hula hoops to heavy machinery — if you do it in a way that is more efficient, you’ll consume less energy, save money on energy costs, and lessen your contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. We’re seeing this across all industries.
Q: One place a company can make an impact is in its supply chain. Can a company’s purchasing power be translated into better environmental policies?
Balta: Absolutely — we’ve certainly seen that at IBM. This dates back to the 1970s, when IBM was evaluating companies performing waste management and recycling. In 1998, we wrote to our suppliers to encourage them to adopt the new ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems. Then, in 2004 we published the IBM Supplier Conduct Principles that suppliers were required to follow in order to do business with IBM. Those standards set IBM’s overall expectations for corporate responsibility, because suppliers are a key component of a company’s sustainability efforts.
Q: What is IBM asking its suppliers to do in 2010?
Balta: Starting this year, we are asking each of our suppliers to define an environmental management system suitable to their particular business operations. We’re asking them to establish voluntary environmental goals and measure performance for at least three topics applicable to virtually all businesses: energy conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste management/recycling. In addition, we’re asking them to publicly disclose their results. We’re also asking that these requirements be cascaded down to any of their suppliers who perform work for them that is material to what is ultimately supplied to IBM. So this program will fan out among our suppliers’ suppliers, spreading its impact even further.
Q: I see you are not issuing a blanket mandate. What’s the reason for that?
Balta: A key aspect of this program is that we want suppliers to create a management system that works for their particular business operations. Since our suppliers are diverse, there cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution. Some are huge publically-traded companies while others may be small businesses with much fewer employees. We want them all to build long-term sustainability in a way that is integral to their routine operations, not as an add-on fix.
As we set these new requirements, let me point out that we are not going to publicly “grade” suppliers. This is a carrot, not a stick approach. Our goal is to help them improve their businesses, whether they work with IBM or someone else. We want them to succeed.
Q: Can you give me a few examples of what suppliers could do?
Balta: It varies. Chemicals used for manufacturing must be properly managed from inception through final use and disposition. Products and components can be designed for the environment, considering material selection, energy intensity, and recycling at end-of-life. Even service operations such as call centers can be energy-intensive.
Take the electronics industry, which supplies IBM with components for our servers. As an example, we want them to use environmentally preferable materials. However, that doesn’t happen overnight, and a supplier must put a system in place to phase out a particular material or manufacturing process.
For a services oriented supplier, its environmental management system might identify energy consumption as a significant issue. Upon recognizing that, the supplier might do things like install motion detectors so lights automatically shut off when rooms are not occupied, or installing energy-efficient light bulbs or energy-saving settings on computers. For a shipping company, their routes might be redesigned to save fuel.
Q: Aren’t some suppliers already doing this?
Balta: Indeed, many of IBM’s suppliers already have such systems in place and for them these requirements may not represent anything substantially different from the way they already manage their businesses. For others, however, this approach may be relatively new. Some suppliers may need help and we look forward to helping them succeed.
There is another dimension. In our era of globalization, we find ourselves working with suppliers from all over the world. In fact, the executive who oversees IBM’s supply chain, John Paterson, is based in Hong Kong. We’re finding that suppliers are at different stages of development and sophistication in terms of their understanding of sustainability and environment impact. While these requirements may seem like old news in mature economies, attention to these matter in emerging markets has not been great over the years. It’s very important for suppliers in those markets to get the help they need to put the right systems in place.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Balta: Our world is a system of systems — we’re seeing that in IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative, where cities around the world are creating systems to make water cleaner, roads less congested, and populations healthier. That’s what we are doing here; helping suppliers build systems so that they can be sustainable and succeed.
